Blackburn with Darwen Council has installed CCTV cameras from Videalert to tackle dangerous parking at a key route into the town. Cameras have been installed on the A678 at Copy Nook on the Furthergate Link Road,. It was widened under the Pennine Reach Scheme for better flow of buses between Hyndburn, Blackburn and Darwen. The cameras have been sited on the red route as introduced in September 2017, to enforce ‘no stopping or loading’ in the designated area. This is the first time that these powers have been used outside London, Birmingham and Edinburgh.
Councillor Phil Riley, Executive Member for Regeneration said: “We are optimistic that the enforcement of these powers will deter the dangerous parking and driving behaviours that have plagued this new road since it was opened. The council wants to ensure the road is safe for everyone to use and has invested in the cameras to send out a clear message to those thinking they can flout the rules. We will take action against those who choose to ignore the rules and put people’s safety at risk by parking irresponsibly.”
Videalert says that its platform will deliver this enforcement at a lower infrastructure and communications cost than other solutions as it uses a single lamp post-mounted processor with a single 4G SIM to support up to four cameras at once. The cameras will monitor and enforce the full extent of parking and potential moving traffic contraventions.
Stuart Scott, Highways and Network Manager at Blackburn with Darwen Council, said: “Urgent action was needed to address the significant safety issues that were occurring in the Copy Nook section of the red route. We hope that the new cameras will reduce the number of highly dangerous offences such as driving in the wrong direction and parallel parking on the dual carriageway.”
The Lancashire council is now identifying other locations, including a number of schools and hospitals, where a similar configuration of cameras could enforce multiple traffic contraventions.
Tim Daniels, Sales and Marketing Director at Videalert said: “This successful deployment further strengthens the case to change legislation and allow councils across the UK to enforce moving traffic contraventions in areas other than red routes. With police resources nationally at an all-time low, the time is right for the government to make this change.”
